


Joy of The Season

by Johanna_002



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22062619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johanna_002/pseuds/Johanna_002
Summary: Drabbles/One-shots to get into the Holiday spirit. Red, Gloria, Nicky centric. Complete.
Kudos: 7





	1. Home Again

Home Again

-01-

It was her first Christmas home in almost twenty years, and the blessing of how lucky she was to be given this second chance to reconnect with her family was not lost on her. Sitting on the ground next to her grandson, her tiny, fragile granddaughter in her arms, Red, felt as if her heart would burst from her chest with happiness at any moment. She couldn't remember a time in her life, except maybe when her own sons were small, that she every felt such happiness.

It was only last year that she had been spending Christmas in prison, and already it felt like a lifetime ago. Adjusting Vera in her arms, she stroked a delicate hand over her reddish hair. She was such a beauty; her grandmother's spitting image. She had her fighting spirit too, something that would no doubt drive her parents insane when she became a teenager.

Red trailed her finger down the side of the baby's cheek, smiling softly, as a drowsy, milky grin pulled across Vera's little lips. Reaching for her little hand, Red kissed her fingers and felt her heart thud furiously in her rib cage as Vera wrapped her hand around her index finger. Mesmerized entirely, Red hadn't noticed that Koyla was speaking to her until she felt his head on her shoulder.

He looked at her with huge brown eyes. "Grandma," he said seriously. He was only three, but already had an incredibly serious attitude about him. "Are you listening to me?" he asked her.

"Yes," she lied, feeling herself blush. It was hard to imagine that she'd served time next to convicted killers, and had even befriended them, yet was intimidated by a little person who couldn't have weighed more than thirty pounds.

She heard Lida chuckle in the distance and she looked up to see her daughter-in-law, who was untangling the Christmas lights they were going to use for the tree, shaking her head in amusement.

Koyla stared at her for a minute, seeming to weight up if she was being truthful or not. Sighing heavily, he reached for the scribbled paper he'd just been drawing on. "What does this say?" he asked her, pointing to his random lines and squiggles.

"It's you're Christmas list," Red answered matter-of-factly. She didn't have a clue what it was supposed to say, but she knew what his intention had started out as.

Koyla nodded his head, accepting her answer. Pointing to a line he said, "This is the fire truck that I want, and this," he pointed to another line, "This is the gun-"

"No guns," Lida interjected from across the room. She was still busy untangling up the lights and didn't even bother to look up as she began to lecture her son. "Why don't you ask Santa for a book instead?"

"Maybe because he tore up the last one?" Vasily reminded her dryly, referring to the tantrum their toddler had thrown himself into a few days previous.

Red smirked, affectionately stroking her hand through Koyla's hair. "I've read a couple of books with endings that have made me want to do that."

"Don't encourage him, Ma," Vasily told her. "Lida, what do you think of this?" he asked, pointing to the tree with the scissors he had just been using to trim it. "Does this please her highness?"

Lida made her way over to the tree to inspect it. Taking the scissors from her husband, she quickly snipped away at the stray pieces still hanging. Stepping back, she smiled at the finished result. "Now I think it's ready to decorate!" she exclaimed happily.

Vasily retried the lights and ornaments and brought them closer to the tree. "Ma, do you remember this?" he asked her as he pulled out a small wooden box.

Red frowned, shaking her head no. "Am I supposed to?" she asked. Vasily set the box down in front of her and gestured for her to open it. Flipping the lid, tears instantly clouded her eyes as she looked down to see several hand-made, paper ornaments that her sons had made in school years ago. "Vasily," she whispered breathlessly, reaching down to pick on of the ornaments up.

She turned it over to see her own handwriting, "Maxsim 1978" scribbled on the back. She'd had the ornaments laminated and had written which child had made it and the year they'd made them on the back of every piece.

It'd become a tradition that every year, everyone would make their own ornament. One year, Yuri had made his out of a tennis ball, and Vasily had made one out of a soda can. As the years had gone on, each child had taken it upon himself to try and top the insanity of their ornament from the year before, and it had been incredible, as their mother, to watch them immerse themselves in the challenge.

"I can't believe you still have these," she whispered, looking through the different pictures her children had scribbled, and messages they had written. Feeling a tear glide softly down her cheek, she quickly wiped it away with her finger. For so long, she had feared that her children would hate her. That when the time came to come home, no one would be there for her, and ss much as she wouldn't have blamed them for turning their back on her, she was eternally grateful that they hadn't.

"Grandma, why are you crying?" Koyla asked concernedly, touching her wet cheek.

"Because I'm happy," she told him truthfully, turning into the warmth of his little, warm hand. "I'm so happy that I get to be here with you."


	2. 'Tis the Season for New Beginnings

'Tis the Season for New Beginnings

-02-

Stepping into the warmth of the apartment she shared with her three children and granddaughter, Gloria let out a breath of relief as she closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. She was exhausted, and her entire body was cold from the walk. The commute home from work that afternoon had been a miserable experience. The buses were crowded, taxis were impossible to find, and New York seemed to be more overpopulated than usual, with everyone hustling and bustling about to do their Christmas shopping, and run their errands.

The tv was playing in the living room, and she could hear her sons talking quietly amongst themselves as she shivered in place, waiting for her internal mechanisms to regulate themselves. Quickly pulling off her gloves, she blew against her frozen skin and rubbed her hands together furiously in an attempt to warm them up. Despite how long she had lived in New York, she still hadn't gotten used to the intense winters, and every year she questioned why she hadn't moved someplace warmer like Dallas, or Florida when she had left Puerto Rico.

Pulling off her hat, scarf, and coat, Gloria then kicked off her cheap tennis shoes. Her socks were soaking wet, and she quickly stripped those off too. Tennis shoes weren't the sort of footwear one should be utilizing in the winter, but her granddaughter, Isla, had been sick recently, and she couldn't justify buying herself a proper pair of shoes when Elena could barely afford to pay for the baby's medication.

As she squeezed her hands around her toes, she couldn't help but feel resentful. Not with her family for needing help, but with God. She knew integrating back into society wasn't going to be easy, but she hadn't wanted to believe it was going to be this hard either. It shouldn't have to be a choice between shoes and medicine, but it was, and it killed her. Everyone in the apartment was working two jobs, except for Benny, and though the boys contributed money to the bills and groceries, there was still only so much that could be done when you were just barely making ends meet.

Taking a seat at the dining table, she couldn't help but imagine how different things could have been if she hadn't lost her store or gone to prison. While she hadn't exactly been making enough profit to live on easy street, she had been comfortable and had been able to afford many of the basic necessities. Distracted by her thoughts, Gloria hadn't heard Isla run into the room until she felt the little girl trying to crawl into her lap.

Smiling as she picked up her granddaughter, Gloria kissed her plump cheek before situating Isla in her lap. "Hi, Mija," she whispered against her temple. "Are you feeling better?"

Isla nodded her head yes as she relaxed into the warmth of her grandmother. In the last year and half that they had gotten to know one another, they had become extremely close. It was amazing to Gloria how you could go from hardly knowing a person to not being able to live without them. She couldn't imagine going a day without cuddling her little love bug, and her heart broke every time she thought about all of the cuddles and kisses, she had missed out on over the years. Not just with Isla, but with all of her babies.

A mother and grandmother were supposed to be around to do those things, but she hadn't been around for either. Squeezing her arms tightly around her granddaughter's middle, she smiled against her thick, chocolate, curly hair as she felt Isla's little hands play with the bracelet she wore around her wrist.

"Did you have a good time with Tio Benny?" Gloria asked curiously.

"We played in the snow," Isla told her happily.

"The snow?" Gloria frowned. She shook her head in annoyance. "Who takes a sick baby out in the cold?" she asked aloud.

Isla furrowed her brows at her. "I'm not sick anymore," she told her grandmother matter-of-factly. "And I'm not a baby."

"You're not?" Gloria played with the ends of her long hair.

"I'm a big girl," Isla told her proudly.

Despite the smile on her face, Gloria's heart broke. She stroked her hand through her granddaughter's hair before kissing her cheek again. "Let's go see what you're Tios are doing," she told her as she moved Isla from her lap onto the floor. Walking into the living room, she was unsurprised to see Benny spread out across the couch and Julio on his computer.

"Hey Mama," Julio greeted her as he looked up from the screen he'd been concentrating on. In addition to his responsibility around the apartment, Julio was putting himself through school at the local community college. Despite all of the demands that were being asked of him, he'd managed to uphold a competitive GPA, and had even scored several scholarships to help pay toward his tuition when he transferred to University in the spring.

"How was work?" Benny asked, sitting up on the sofa so his mother could have a seat.

Gloria sat down with Isla, but the little girl moved over onto her uncle's lap just as soon as they sat down. Watching as Benny covered her up with a blanket, and wrapping his arms protectively around her. During the week while everyone worked, he was Isla's primary caretaker and the one who seemed to know her quirks and needs better than anyone. It had surprised her and Elena both when he'd been the one to volunteer for the job, but after talking to Lourdes, and finding out that Benny had often been left in the care of not-so-nice baby sitters in the past, it made sense that he was so protective of his niece.

"Work was okay," she answered him as she tucked her feet under herself. "I'm off tonight from the restaurant, but I have to go in early tomorrow at the dry-cleaners. Is Elena home yet?"

"Taking a nap," Julio said distractedly, scribbling something down in his notebook.

"Does she work tonight, too?"

"I think she was going to call in. She said she wasn't feeling good," Benny explained.

"Great," Gloria sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Guess that means that we're all going to be next."

"Lourdes texted me and she wants to know if we're going to her place for Christmas or if she's coming here," Benny said as he turned his attention back to the television, his chin resting on Isla's head.

"I think it'd be easier for her to come here," Gloria said logically. "This place is bigger than hers."

"That's what I tried to tell her, but she just kept telling me to ask you," Benny explained tensely.

Since his mom had gotten home, his relationship with his aunt had gotten a lot better but there was still a lot of resentment between the two of them for how stressful their years together had been. He knew Lourdes had done her best to raise them, and he loved her dearly for it, but there'd been a lot of things that she hadn't handled well, and he was still working through his emotions and feelings on forgiving her. There was still a lot of hurt in their family as a whole, and everyone was still trying to work through the pain and misunderstandings that actions and words had caused.

Standing up, Gloria made her way back into the dining room to retrieve her cell phone from her coat. She had a missed call from a number she didn't recognize and furrowed her eyebrows together as she hit the button to redial it. Wondering if it could be one of the jobs that she'd applied to over the last couple of weeks, she felt her stomach tighten in anticipation.

After three rings there was an answer, a voice she hadn't heard in over a decade, but one that she knew instantly. "Cecilia?" she whispered into the receiver, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She lowered herself slowly into a chair. "Baby, is that you?" Gloria was sure she was going faint.

"Hi, Mama," Cecilia's voice was gentle as she spoke.

Despite the drama, the anger, and the hatred she knew her daughter harvested toward her; she had never given up hope that one day this phone call would come. She had never given up trying. She'd written letters, she'd called. She'd sent Christmas and birthday gifts. She'd tried everything she could think of to get her daughter to speak to her again, and even after she'd gone to prison, she had never stopped trying to reach out to her.

"Hi," Gloria whispered breathlessly. "Hi… Cecilia, oh," she clutched at her beating heart. "Baby, it's so good to hear your voice." She exhaled a deep breath. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Cecilia told her. "How are you?"

Gloria nodded her head. She sounded okay. She also sounded grown-up. She'd be twenty-seven now, and it pained Gloria to realize that the last time she'd seen her she was only eleven.

"I'm better now," Gloria smiled. "I miss you."

It felt like an eternity before Cecilia acknowledged her confession, but when she did, Gloria felt as if she'd died and gone to heaven.

"I miss you too, mom. That's the reason I'm calling, I guess. I've been speaking to Elena," she admitted quietly.

When Gloria had first gotten released and connected with Elena, she knew the two sisters had gotten into an ugly fight over it. Cecilia had been angry and betrayed, and she hadn't wanted her sister or her niece to have anything to do with their mother, but Elena was an adult now, and unlike all those years ago, she was speaking for herself. As much as it had pained Gloria to hear that her girls were fighting, she was grateful that Elena had given her a second chance, and she'd been doing everything in her power to prove how worthy and appreciative she was.

"I'm not sure what to say," Cecilia whispered into the phone. "I didn't think it through before calling, but I know you've been trying to contact me, and-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Ceci," Gloria reassured her. "I know you're angry. I know I've hurt you, and you have every right to hate me, baby, but… I do love you. I miss you so much. I just want to know that you're okay."

"I'm okay," her daughter promised.

"I'd love to see you," Gloria told her. "Whenever you're ready. If you're ever ready. I don't want to push you."

Cecilia laughed softly, and Gloria could tell that she was on the verge of tears. "I want to see you too, but I'm scared, mom."

"I'm scared too." And she was. Gloria was petrified to see the damage she had caused her daughter. She was scared and embarrassed to admit that she was responsible for breaking her. She'd spent nine months growing and nurturing her children into perfection so that she could bring them into this world, and her sole responsibility was to protect them and to keep them safe, but that was incredibly hard to do when she was who they needed protecting from.

"Maybe we can start with coffee?" Cecilia suggested.

"I'd love that," Gloria nodded. "When?"

"Tonight, if you're free?" Cecilia asked. "Or maybe tomorrow. We could go to that place near Ashton, do you know which one I'm talking about?"

"Yes," Gloria said eagerly. "Tonight, I'll see you tonight."

"Okay," Cecilia agreed. "I have to get back to work, but I'll see you in a couple of hours. Okay?"

"Okay, baby… I love you."

"Bye, mom."


	3. You'll Always Have A Place

You'll Always Have A Place

-03-

"Nicky? Hello? Hello?"

The phone fell from Nicky's hand onto the floor.

"Nicky?"

The voice on the phone faded into the distance. The silence was deafening, and Nicky's thoughts were all-consuming. She could hardly think straight as she stumbled out of her bedroom, and across the living room into the kitchen.

Instantly there was a pain in her chest, a piece of herself missing where her heart once was. Nicky clutched desperately at her chest, and her breath passed her lips in heavy, panted sounds as she blindly turned on the faucet. She bent her head and gulped down big drinks of water, slurping at the coolness that she felt ease its way down her throat and the sides of her face.

Shutting off the faucet, she stood at the sink with her hands gripping to the sides of it. She was gripping to the edge so tightly, her hands were starting to feel numb, and her heart felt as if it were going to burst from her ribcage at any moment. The drumming in her ears was so loud it was painful. It was all painful.

Everything hurt. Suddenly, everything that made her whole hurt.

A strangled, broken sob tore from her body, and she screamed so loudly that she could feel the sting radiate through her chest and throat. It burned. It hurt. It hurt so fucking much. Her legs buckled from underneath her, and she slid down the sink onto the floor. She balled herself up, resting heavily against the cool wood of the cabinet door.

She couldn't think over the sound of her cries. All she could do was feel. It was as if someone was scrubbing her skin with sandpaper, and she suddenly felt very raw.

"Ma!" she pleaded through her tears. "Red!"

Her calls went unanswered, and Nicky made a sound that was inhuman as she crumpled more heavily against the cabinet. She'd thought she had been prepared for this, for the day when Red's dementia and ailing healthy would cumulate together and take her away.

But how could you ever, truly prepare yourself to lose the person you love most?

With Red gone it meant that she was alone. She was an orphan. Again. How could she be orphaned twice in one lifetime?

Nicky spent the remainder of the night on the kitchen floor, sobbing and screaming until she exhausted herself beyond all measures, and her body finally gave out, and she succumbed to sleep.

…

The funeral service was beautiful. Nicky had made sure of it. She had drowned the church with red roses in her mother's honor, buying out two florists' entire inventory. Everyone had attended. Gloria and her family, Lorna and her sister, Sophia, Alex, and Piper; even Healy and Caputo.

Red's sons had thanked everyone her for their generosity, and for taking the time out of their day to pay their respects.

Red sons pulled Nicky aside before the funeral, hugging her, thanking her, and crying into her large mass of curls. Vasily, especially, had told her she'd given him so much that he could never repay her for.

She'd given him the chance to say goodbye.

When she'd been released from prison, Nicky had set out to find him. She'd showed up unannounced at his doorstep in the pouring rain, begging him for a few minutes of his time. Inmates weren't even given the bare minimum of common courtesy, and for nearly two years, Red had deteriorated with her dementia before her sons had ever known she was sick.

Nicky had tried to write to them, to tell them about her diagnosis, and offer financial help so that they could attain a lawyer and make a plea for a compassionate release, but all of her letters had been returned unopened. There hadn't been much she had been able to do for Red or for her family until she had gotten out, but within a week of being released from Litchfield, Nicky had cashed in on the trust fund her grandmother had left for her on her 35th birthday.

It was the one and only account that her parents weren't able to control, and she thanked her lucky stars that her grandmother had always favored her over Marka. She'd been entrusted with her grandmother's entire estate and life savings, and it was more than either of her parents would ever see in their lifetime.

By the end of that first month, she had gotten Red released from prison and had set her up in one of the finest care facilities in New York. She visited her every day, and often time even spent an entire night with her. It was all she could do, and yet, she felt as if it wasn't enough.

The universe could sometimes be so cruel, and crooked. If it'd been an option, she'd have traded her entire fortune for Red's health. She'd give it all up in a heartbeat if it meant that she wouldn't have to go through the rest of her life without her.

"Nicky?"

At the sound of her name, Nicky lifted her head and squinted. Her eyes were still red, puffy, and raw from crying.

"Vasily," she acknowledged him, turning her head back to the freshly dug hole they had just lowered their mother into.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked her. "Maybe you should come warm up in the car."

Nicky shook her head no. It was freezing cold, and there's was snow all over, but she wouldn't move if God himself came down and told her to. She needed just a little more time. She needed a few more moments before she had to accept the fact that it was all over.

Vasily sighed sadly as he followed her gaze. He rubbed his hand over his face and winced. His heart was broken. He was a shell of a person merely trying to keep it together and process it all. He took a seat next to her, and sighed, his breath clouding in front of his face.

"What am I going to do now?" he asked her.

Nicky laughed softly, the muscles in her face twitching painfully. "You're asking the wrong person," she told him brokenly.

"I feel like any minute now I'm going to wake up and all of this is going to just be some awful nightmare," he told her softly. "That I'm going to wake up a 17-year-old boy who walks down the stairs and sees her baking. I just want it all to be a nightmare, but instead, it's just… it's-"

"A livin' hell," Nicky finished for him.

Vasily reached for her gloved hand and squeezed it tightly. "What are you going to do?" he asked her concernedly.

Nicky looked at him. Her eyes were lifeless, but she could see compassion in his brown ones being reflected back at her. "I don't have a fuckin' clue." She exhaled. "Maybe go to an island," she said noncommittedly. "She always said she wanted to paddle boarding, and, ya know, I don't really want to spend the holidays alone."

Vasily frowned at her. "You're not alone, Nicky," he promised her. "After everything you've done for us and her," he shook his head. "You're never going to be alone; you'll always have a place in our family."

"Vasily-"

"I mean it," he interrupted her, his tone suddenly stronger, leaving her no room to argue or object. His hand continued to hold tightly to hers, not even allowing her the option to run away.

Nicky's eyes fell closed, and she gave in to the feeling of being wanted. She scooted a little closer to him, squeezing his hand back as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I just need a minute," she whispered to him. "I just need a few more minutes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Happy New Year, everyone! May 2020 bring you happiness, positivity, and health. Hug those you love, tell them you love them and make the best of every moment together. I feel like this is going to a beautiful new year and decade for me, personally. I turned 23 a week ago, and I start Nursing School at the end of January. It's going to be a wild and intense ride, but I'm determined to keep writing and keep you updated with my journey. I hope that you feel the same.
> 
> XO
> 
> -Jo


	4. When The Ball Drops

When the Ball Drops

-04-

The house was bustling with music and laughter, and there was a kitchen of food that any king would be jealous of. Red had spent the last several days cooking and baking as she prepared for the holidays, and as much as she loved it, she was ready for it to all be over.

"Hey, Red," Benny, Gloria's youngest son greeted his stepmother. "We got any more tamales?"

"Not sure," Red answered as she looked over her shoulder at him. "But there's chicken kiev on the table."

"I wanted tamales," he told her pitifully as he poked around at the different food on the table. "Oh, yes!" he exclaimed happily, lifting up a layer of aluminum foil to find two perfect tamales. "The last ones too," he told her proudly, wiggling his eyes brows.

Shaking her head affectionately, Red finished the last of the dishes she was washing before turning off the water and wiping her hands off on the apron that was tied around her waist.

"Are you going to come out and join the party?" Benny asked his stepmother curiously as he unwrapped the husk that contained the yummy goodness.

"In a minute," she told him. "I want to get things straightened up in here first." Moving over to the table she gathered up the empty soda cans and water bottles before tossing them into the trash. "Want any of this before I put it away?" she asked, motioning to a pasta salad Lida had brought.

"No, thanks," he shook his head. Taking a seat at the table, he added a little salt and hot sauce to hit tamales before cutting into them with a fork.

"Are you having fun?" Red asked him curiously as she continued to put the food away. She lifted her head at the sound of laughter radiating from the living room and smirked. "Your mother sounds like she's having fun."

"Mami's drunk," Benny told her with a chuckle.

"Fuck yeah she is!" Nicky exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen with Cecilia, Gloria's oldest daughter. Both of them were wearing party hats and 2020 glasses.

"She's gonna have a hangover in the morning," Cecilia chuckled. She walked around the table to stand behind her brother. Plucking the fork out of his hand, she stabbed it into the last of the first tamale and brought it to her mouth.

"She deserves to let lose everyone in a while," Red told the young woman. "She's been working so hard lately. I'm glad she was able to get these last two weeks off."

"Yea, I bet you are," Nicky elbowed her.

"Eww," Cecilia and Benny frowned.

"Behave, Nicky," Red smacked her daughter's arm.

"Aww, Ma," Nicky waved her way. "Don't be so uptight. We all know what you do."

"But we don't want to think about," Benny said, shivering in disgust.

Red rolled her eyes. "I'm not having this conversation with any of you," she told them as she untied the apron around her waist. "Nicky, Ceci, finishing cleaning this kitchen for me, please? Benny, when you're done will you throw out the trash?" Not bothering to wait for a reply, she made her way out of the kitchen and joined the congregation of people who were watching Lourdes and Maxsim dance.

"Hi, honey!" Gloria greeted her happily, pulling her by the hand and dragging her onto the makeshift dance floor that had been created. "Dance with me," she wrapped an arm around her neck.

"No," Red told her, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep Gloria steady. "I don't dance, you know that."

"Can't dance!" Maxsim corrected his mother over the sound of the music as he spun Gloria's aunt. "She's got two left feet!"

Gloria took a large gulp of the beer in her hands. "Want the last of this?" she asked her, offering her the bottle.

"Have you had enough?" Red laughed, taking the bottle and drinking the last little bit that was left.

"You need to catch up," Gloria told her, wrapping her arms around her waist. She kissed her cheek softly. "You look beautiful."

"I look tired," Red told her, stepping back and taking Gloria's hand in her own. Pulling gently, she led her away from the crowded living room and down the hallway to their shared bedroom.

"Are you planning to take advantage of me?" Gloria giggled as Red closed the bedroom door.

"What's wrong with everyone tonight?" Red laughed as she joined Gloria on the bed. Laying back against the pillows, she pulled Gloria down with her and stroked the fringe of hair out of her eyes.

Gloria sighed. "Then why are we in here?" she asked. "I wanted to dance."

"Just sit still for a minute," Red told her, draping an arm over her waist. "Lay down with me," whispered.

"We're going to miss the ball drop," Gloria whined, propping herself up on her elbow. "You're supposed to kiss me at midnight."

"I don't need a countdown to tell me when to kiss you," Red whispered. Cupping Gloria's check in her hand and bring her down for a soft kiss. She smiled against her lips, laughing softly in the back of her throat as she felt Gloria try to deepen. Pulling back gently, her eyes sparkling with mischief she added, "but I do need a nap before we ring in the new year properly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is the last chapter of this mini-story. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
